Daughter of Tomorrow
by Last Daughter of Krypton
Summary: Laura Kent is the adopted daughter of Clark and Lois Kent, and unknowingly the daughter of the world’s greatest superhero. Although she is completely human and without any powers that would make her a superhero,FULL SUMMARY INSIDE.
1. Disclaimer & Summary

**_DISCLAIMER: _I do no own nor take the creative rights to the characters of the Superman comics, or any of the DC Comic Universe characters, places, or events. I do however take a small amount of credit for the new character being introduced into the world of Superman and the DC Comic Universe, and nothing more. **

**SUPERMAN created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster**

* * *

**Story Summary:**

Laura Kent is the adopted daughter of Clark and Lois Kent, and unknowingly the daughter of the world's greatest superhero. Although she's completely human and without any type of super power that can make her into a superhero, doesn't mean life for this adopted daughter of Krypton's Last Son has to be boring.


	2. Prologue

_**Prologue**_

Clark Kent adjusted his tie for the sixth time since leaving the apartment with his wife Lois earlier that morning. He was nervous, and so he had a right to be, after all to day was the day he and Lois were going to adopt their first child. Clark had always known, after learning about his true heritage and origins that he would never be able to father a child one day, but the idea of adopting a child had actually come from Lois's sister Lucy. The thought of adopting had never really crossed Clark's mind at first, but now that he thought about it, adopting sounded like the perfect idea. After all, he himself was an adopted child as well. It wasn't long after that that Clark and Lois went down to Metropolis United Charities to see about adopting a child. When they visited, they immediately fell in love with a dark haired brown-eyed little girl who was no more than nine months old. After a couple more visits, they made their decision to adopt the little girl and take her in as their own daughter.

And so, here they were sitting in the waiting room of the main office for the head director United Charities to call them in. Again Clark adjusted his tie as the thought of finally becoming a father hit him like punch from one of his toughest enemies and boiled up the nervousness he thought he had set aside. Lois noticed the seventh time her husband's hand went to adjust his tie and felt the corner of her mouth twitch into a curling smile as she reached over and set an assuring hand upon his knee.

"Clark, calm down." She stated gently as Clark looked over at her with a raised brow over the brim of his glasses and a nervous smile upon his face. "Are you positive about the name?" Lois asked.

Clark nodded his head in response before verbally answering her. "Yeah, I'm positive." He replied, and then suddenly perked up as he heard through the walls of the office his last name being spoken between several people. Looking over at Lois, he smiled again, but this time it wasn't sheltered in nerves but drenched in a sense of excitement.

Seeing the look change upon her husband's face so suddenly, Lois couldn't help but grin at him, as she knew he had used his sense of super-hearing to hear something that apparently caused him to become rather excited. At that same moment the door to the main office opened a woman who looked to be in her late forties early fifties dressed in a feminine business suit. "Mr. and Mrs. Kent we're ready for you." She stated while holding the door open with her hand and smiling at them.

Both Clark and Lois stood to their feet and walked over the office. Stepping inside they were ushered to a pair of cushioned chairs seated before a large polished oak desk where behind it sat a balding man with white hair and black rimmed eye glasses. The man behind the desk stood up and extended a hand out towards the Kents as they came towards him. "Ah, Mr. and Mrs. Kent, it's good to see you again." He stated while shaking hands first with Clark and then Lois before they sat down.

"Thank you Mr. Wood." Lois returned while setting her purse down upon her lap.

Mr. Wood smiled at them both while sitting down in his chair behind the desk again. "Now, all the papers have been drawn up and are ready to be signed." He stated while opening a white folder upon his desk and paused a moment while looking at the Kents with a small smile upon his weathered face. "Now, I do believe we need a name for our little girl to be adopted under."

Lois nodded and then looked over at Clark, as she knew he would love to be the one to declare the girl's new name to be written down upon the adoption papers and birth certificate. Clark smiled at his wife's reassurance and urge for him to go ahead and state the name of their daughter, and then looked over at Mr. Wood. "Her name is Laura Martha Kent." He stated while feeling a fluttering jitter welling up in the pit of his stomach.

Nodding at this, Mr. Wood wrote down the name upon the papers and certificates before then turning the documents around and pushed them forward towards the Kents. Handing them both a pen each, he watched as they took their turns in singing each piece of paper upon the appropriate lines. In ten minutes everything was squared away and the adoption had officially taken place, Mr. Wood pressed the button on the intercom set upon his desk. "Mrs. Johnson would please have Mr. and Mrs. Kent's baby brought in."

Clark could barely keep himself sitting still in his seat as he waited for his daughter to be brought into the office and given over to him and Lois. As he sat there listening to his wife talk with Mr. Wood, Clark decided to see just exactly how far away Laura was from them, and casually looking off to his right, Clark focused his eyes a bit and then the material of the wall peeled back as his x-ray vision gave him a view to the other side. And there, coming around the corner in the hall was Mrs. Johnson holding the nine month old in her arms dressed in a powder blue jumper and wrapped in a red blanket. The baby girl, now known as Laura Kent, was awake and looking about the hall as she passed by. Her big brown eyes taking in everything that her small mind could understand. Clark looked away and held one biggest grins across his face that he had to feel upon his own face since the day he married Lois.

There was a buzz on Mr. Wood's intercom and he pressed the button to end the buzzing. "Yes?"

"_She's here Mr. Wood."_

"Ah, good, come on in Mrs. Johnson." Mr. Wood grinned over at the Kents as he lifted his fingertip off the intercom. The door then opened behind them and in walked Mrs. Johnson and little Laura Kent wrapped up in her blanket. Clark and Lois turned in their chairs as they came in and then stood up immediately.

Mrs. Johnson grinned at them while turning Laura about enough so that way she could see her new mom and dad, even though they were people she had seen before. Almost as quickly as Laura had taken sight of the face she would soon be calling dad, her tiny face pulled into a baby grin as she then giggled lightly. If weren't for the fact that kryptonite was his known weakness, then that little girl's smile and laugh would then be his true weakness. Mrs. Johnson didn't have to come any further as both Lois and Clark had crossed the expanse to take the little girl into their arms. Mrs. Johnson handed Laura over to Lois first who held the little dark haired angel in her arms for a moment while grinning brightly at her.

"Hello Laura, I'm your mommy." She stated in greeting to the little girl she had seen on so many other occasions, but today was something very different and it wasn't just any other occasion. "And this," Lois began while looking over at Clark with a broad smile upon her face and shifting the tiny girl in her arms in preparation of handing her over to him. "Would be your daddy."

Clark took Laura in his arms and smiled down at her as she looked back up at him with a tiny smile upon her own face. "Hello Laura." He greeted her and in response had the little girl raising a hand up at him as if she wanted to touch his face to say 'hello' back. Clark felt himself becoming weak in the knees, but it was a good weak in the knees feeling that he enjoyed very much. Here she was, the precious little life entrusted upon him to raise and care for as his own child. Clark Kent knew that at this very moment he had fallen in love, not in the since of a man and a woman, but it was with this little girl that he had fallen in love with and would come to treasure for the rest of his life.

After a few more things were taken care of at Metropolis United Charities, the Kents were finally able to take their daughter home back to their apartment where things were already set up for her arrival. The new family of three arrived home a half hour later, and the whole time Clark held his daughter within his arms. Entering the apartment, Lois led the way of course and flicked on the wall light to illuminate the small home. Stepping aside she watched her husband enter with their daughter. Lois couldn't help but smile gently how incredible it was to watch someone like her husband, a man known to the rest of the world as the greatest superhero, cradle the little one in his arms and stare down at her in such an affectionate manner.

"You are going to end up tied around her little finger before she's even able to utter a single word to you." Lois teased while shutting the door and locking it before following after Clark into their bedroom where they had the crib set up. They had decided that even though they had a second room in the apartment, one that would later be converted from a small office into Laura's bedroom when she was old enough, they would keep the crib in their bedroom so that way Laura was right there when she needed attention.

Clark looked over at his wife with a grin upon his face. "She had me since the first day we saw her." Clark replied while looking down at Laura, who was looking about the hallway as they walked down it, her big brown eyes taking everything in while she remained rather quiet. "She is a quiet baby." He commented as they entered the bedroom finally, Lois again flicking on the lights.

"Indeed she is." Lois agreed while going around to the small lightly tan colored wooden crib she and Clark had set up the night before. "Who knows, maybe she'll end up just like you when she's older. A mild-mannered citizen of Metropolis who just so happens to now be the daughter of Superman." Lois grinned as Clark set Laura down within the slated walls of the crib. "That reminds me, are you going to give her a Kryptonian name as well?"

"I had thought about it, but there's a part of me that doesn't want Laura caught up in that heritage, but it's a small part." He added in while looking over at Lois.

Lois nodded her head in understanding to this, and then gave her husband a hug. "You do what you think is best. If you give her a Kryptonian name, I think it will only just further bring her deeper into your heart. But like I said, you do what you think is best." She stated while then placing a tender kiss upon his lips. "I'm going to go get dinner started." Lois said while dropping her hug from about him. "Try not to have too much fun without me you two." She laughed while speaking to not just Clark but also to her daughter who was sitting up in the crib staring at her. After Lois spoke, Laura gave a baby's laugh at this and smiled.

Leaning down into the crib, Lois planted a kiss upon Laura's forehead and then headed out of the room. Clark watched his wife leave and then looked down at his baby girl with a smile. "Laura Martha Kent, my precious daughter." He murmured quietly as the two of them stared at each other for a quiet moment or two before Laura gave a noise that sounded like a 'uh?' as if she were wondering why her dad had grown so quiet. "Your mother is right. And because she's right I now exactly what I want to give you." Clark stated while reaching down and picking Laura back up in his arms. Holding her so that way they could continue to stare at one another on an eye-level, Clark felt his face growing a soft affectionate smile that was directed at Laura. "I would name after my mother, but you hold a likeness already to her name's sake." He stated, partially to himself while still contemplating what it was that he wanted to give her. After another moment passed in which there was silence, Laura reached up and set a hand upon her father's cheek and gave a small cooing noise that only children her age made in an attempt to speak.

This simple gesture given to him caused Clark to tear up a bit as he wondered if this was how his father, Jonathan Kent, felt when he was raising him from such an early age as well. Laura bounced a bit in her father's hold while giggling to herself for some apparent reason, but kept her hand upon his cheek the whole time. The sheer innocence of this tiny girl amazed Clark as he watched her stare up at him with a smile and continued to make baby noises as she was talking to him. He smiled softly at her and then placed a kiss upon her forehead. "Welcome home, Ka – El."


	3. Birthday Mornings

**Daughter Of Tomorrow**

_I don't think anyone can honestly say they know what it's like to be the child of a superhero. That would have at one point applied to me had it not been for the fact that on the day of my nineteenth birthday, I found out about my family's biggest secret that was kept from me, and it wasn't just the fact that I was adopted, I already knew that since I was like twelve. But this family secret, yeah, it's pretty big, you might even say super big if you catch my drift._

Chapter One – Birthday Mornings

For once in her life the alarm clock didn't go off at six thirty in the morning to herald in yet another day of mindless routine. However, old habits die hard as this teen girl would find out as her brown eyes fluttered open momentarily in a half-sleepy sort of way and glanced at the glaring red LCD numbers upon the black plastic face of an alarm clock situated off in front of her a top a wooden night stand. The red numbers boldly screamed out 8:00am, to which for a moment meant nothing to the teen as she allowed her eyes to lazily drift closed again, but seconds later the way in which she shot up would rival the speed of even The Flash, and he was the fastest man alive. Sitting up in her bed, the teen grabbed her alarm clock and stared at it for a moment with big wide eyes of pure terror before something broke her concentration – a voice from outside the closed bedroom door calling to her.

"You don't have school anymore Laura." A male voice called out loud enough for her to hear through even the wooden door of her bedroom.

The reassurance and reminder of this fact caused the teen to fall back down into her bed in a sideways manner while still holding on to the alarm clock in a more or less relaxed death grip that she originally had upon it earlier about two seconds ago. She had forgotten the fact that her last day as a senior in Metropolis High had ended last week and she had graduated with a 4.0 but not exactly at the top of her class. Today was Monday, but she had no school to worry about and had an entire summer break to look forward to and enjoy. This reminder caused the teen to set her alarm clock back up on her nightstand and then snuggled back down into her covers to sleep in for once. However, this would not be as the phone suddenly rang, one of the several phones in the house of course being located right there in her own room. The red cordless phone that was sitting next to the alarm clock rang twice before it was cut off as someone else had picked up the line elsewhere outside her room.

With the phone answered, the teen didn't care who it was or why they were calling as long as it didn't interrupt her return to slumber land. Again though this ideal was dashed and all hope of sleeping in till noon was crushed when a knock came upon the door of her bedroom. "What?" she whined while covering her head with a pillow in an attempt to escape whatever it was that would intrude upon her sleep.

The door opened inwards and the dark haired head of an adult male poked in bearing a pair of glasses upon his attractive chiseled and clean-shaven face. "Phone call for you honey. It's your Uncle." He stated while still holding the cordless phone from the kitchen in his hand as he was now partially standing half inside the small bedroom accommodating his teen daughter's presence since the age of two.

A whimper was emitted from under the pillow before it was tossed aside in an upset manner. The dark hair of the teen girl being messed in the process so that it covered her face in an odd sort of veil that covered only a part of her slim oval shaped face. "Who is it?" she asked, not having entirely heard what her dad had said when he came in as a result of having a pillow over her ears.

"Your uncle Wally is on the phone." He repeated while nodding over at the red phone sitting on her bedside table.

The teen girl would have usually groaned, moaned, whined, or protested against such an early phone call, but considering who it was on the other line, she thought better of it and picked up her phone. Clicking the line on she waved lazily at her father in response who hit the end call button on the phone in his hand. "Hello?" she asked in a voice laced with sleep and the slightest amount of partial annoyance.

"_Hey sleepy head, did I wake you?"_ A male voice entered her hearing with a rather light tone in his own voice.

She shook her head despite the fact that he couldn't see it. "No, I was already awake. I forgot that I didn't have school and nearly had a heart attack." She replied while using her free hand to rub the sleep out of her eyes while turning on to her back so she stared up at the ceiling.

"_Oh good, then that means I'm not in trouble." _

"Uncle Wally, you never get into trouble you always get out of it." She pointed out while rolling her eyes at his attempt to be funny with her, which he usually was, but the fact that she was still somewhat half asleep didn't help much.

A small laugh was emitted from over the line as he apparently found this funny. _"I suppose your right. Well, anyways, I called because I wanted to tell you 'Happy Nineteenth Birthday' cutie." _

This new reminder had her blinking a few times in a rather stupid manner before she looked over at her bedroom door where her dad been standing only to find him now absent but the door was still partially opened. _Ah man, how I could forget that today was my birthday? _"Thanks uncle Wally." She returned while then pushing herself up into a sitting position upon her bed and leaned back against the headboard. "Are you coming to my graduation party tomorrow?" she asked while picking at the surface of her blanket absent-mindedly.

"_I wouldn't miss it kiddo. Oh, and you that Bart is coming right?"_

"Yep. He called me last night and told me he would be here. Hey, uncle Wally, do you know if my godfather is coming or not?" she then asked while her face converted into a rather worried look for some reason only known to her at the moment.

"_I'm not sure. You'd have to ask your parents about that, but I don't see why he wouldn't be there. Why what's wrong Laura?" _For the nineteen years he had known her, Wally West was not oblivious to the changes in her tone of voice when something came up. And this was definitely one of those times, but then again, she always sounded worried or concerned whenever it came around to the subject of her godfather.

She again shook her head. "It's nothing, I was just wondering if you knew, that's all." She replied in assurance to his question, which probably didn't work because she was never really that good at lying in the first place.

"_If you say so." _There was a sudden pause on the line, which had the eyebrows of the niece raising for a moment before her uncle's voice came back on. _"Hey, kiddo, I need to get going. I'll see you tomorrow night, and happy birthday hun." _

"Okay, I'll see you tomorrow. Thanks uncle Wally, I love you." She returned while grinning a bit now as the decay of sleep had all but now left her body entirely.

"_Love ya too kid. Bye."_

Both lines clicked off simultaneously. Stretching her arms out to the side, she yawned once and then set the cordless phone back down on its station before throwing the covers off her body and swinging her legs over the edge of the bed. Yawning again, she got up and wandered over to the bedroom door, grabbing a red sweatshirt that was stranded on the floor next to the wall and pulled it on over her white tank top before heading out towards the kitchen. Running her hands through the mess of black hair that she had been gifted with at birth, her fingers catching every so often in a tangle as she racked through it a few more times, she arrived in the kitchen where her father had relocated himself at the table reading the morning copy of _The Daily Planet_. "Morning dad." She greeted while going over to the refrigerator and yanked the door open.

Looking up from his paper he smiled at her. "Morning Laura."

If by now it hasn't been entirely made clear, this is of course the Kent family, minus mom at the moment. Laura Martha Kent, daughter of Clark and Lois Kent, had today turned nineteen after graduating from high school the week before. Laura had been raised right in that very apartment her parents lived in since the day they brought her home from Metropolis United Charities near nineteen years ago when she was only nine months old and named Laura Martha Kent by mainly her father. Through the years, Laura grew up inside that apartment under the loving care of her parents and went through the cycles of childhood like any other kid in Metropolis, with the one exception to the fact that both her parents were ace reporters for _The Daily Planet_ and of course were somewhat well known only by name. It was around the age of twelve that Laura took notice of something that she knew didn't seem quite right about her family situation – both her parents had blue eyes and she had brown ones, and she didn't hold any real resemblance to either one of them at all in looks. Even though she was tall, really tall, she had nothing that tied her to her parents as far as looks or genetics went. And so the day came when Clark and Lois had to break the news to Laura that she was in fact adopted.

Knowing that you're adopted and that the two people you love more than anything in this world aren't your real parents, is a rather harsh reality check for twelve-year-old. However, Laura didn't take it as hard as most would and with the help of her parents she accepted the fact that she was adopted but that her real parents were the ones who raised her and loved her – Clark and Lois Kent. Another thing that was a bit odd about her family, were her relatives. On her mother's side she had her aunt Lucy and grandpa General Sam Lane and the mix of various cousins and what not related to her mother. But on her dad's side, it was a little confusing outside grandma and grandpa Kent and her dad's cousin Linda Lee Danvers on his dad's side of the family and of course there was Laura's cousin Connor Kent who was living in San Francisco. The confusing part started with her godfather, a man that was a good and close friend of her father's named Bruce Wayne. He lived in Gotham City and at around the age of fifteen when Laura became somewhat confused as to why people were shocked when she told them about her godfather, Laura did some research and soon found out what all the shock was about. Her godfather was the owner and CEO of Wayne Enterprises, and possibly one of the richest men in the states aside from Lex Luthor. Okay, not that bad, but then there were the relatives she called aunts and uncles who weren't even related to her dad at all but where his close friends.

Aunt Diana lived in Gateway City located in California, uncle Wally lived in Central City in Missouri while also living part time in Keystone City located in Kansas, uncle Kyle lived in New York City, uncle John Jones who worked as a private detective and free lanced across the country, aunt Shayera Hol lived in St. Roch Louisiana. These were the relatives that would have been confusing had Laura not just accepted the fact that they were people who cared about her and loved her almost just as much as her own parents did. And that was the basic rundown of her "family tree", nothing that big of deal in her mind. They were all really cool and she loved visiting each and every one of them when she got the chance to. But it was her godfather Bruce Wayne that always seemed to make her nervous and shy, partially because he just seemed a bit intimidating and partially because he was such a well known business man that she felt unsure of herself when she was around him. Not that she was afraid of him or anything, she was just felt a bit out of place around him or even when she went to Gotham City a few times to visit.

The sudden thought of her godfather possibly coming or not coming to her graduation party caused Laura to end her rummaging about the fridge for something other than the normal breakfast food. Settling on the half empty craft of orange juice, Laura pulled it out and shut the door while reaching over to the dish rack was set up for the dishes to dry after being cleaned and grabbed a cup. Coming over to the table, Laura sat down across from her dad and poured herself a glass of the orange juice before ending the comfortable silence with her question. "Dad, is my godfather coming tomorrow?" she asked while fidgeting nervously in her chair as she ran her finger about the rim of her cup and bit the inside of her bottom lip.

Clark looked up from his paper and gave his daughter a skeptical look to the nervous persona she was holding upon herself at the moment. He sighed inwardly at this, as he had seen her act this way every time the mention of Bruce being somewhere in the same room or even city as her caused Laura to become nervous and concerned. Clark knew that Laura felt a bit awkward in having someone like Bruce Wayne as her godfather; she'd probably even have a nervous breakdown if she ever found out one of his biggest secrets. He had made mention of this once to Lois after Laura went to Gotham City for a week, and Lois had made the theory of it was possible that Laura acted this way around him because she was afraid of disappointing Bruce or even not meeting what she assumed were his standards of how a goddaughter should be and act. Clark gave his daughter a sympathetic smile. "Laura, honey, you don't need to be so nervous around your own godfather." He stated in assurance to her and also in encouragement.

Laura looked up at him with a weak half-hearted smile. "So he is coming then?" Part of her wanted him to be there, and yet there was a small part that dreaded him being there. Bruce never really seemed to be the kind of person who did the whole visiting younger relatives thing because of them graduating high school and stuff like that.

He gave a small laugh to this, even though he didn't mean to. "Yes Laura, your godfather is coming. In fact, your mother said he was the first one to RSVP even before your grandparents did." This little statement caused Laura's eyebrow to shoot up and her eyes to widen at this, which then in turn caused Clark to give a small chuckle in response. "You seemed surprised. Did you think he wouldn't come?" he asked while raising a teasing brow at her now.

"No, well, yeah. I don't know." Laura whined while then letting her head drop so that way forehead met table in a loud bang. She uttered a small and muted 'ouch', that only her father heard for certain reasons unknown to her. For a moment it was quiet and Laura remained in the same position even when she started to speak again. "Where's mom at anyways?"

Clark turned to the next page in his paper. "She went out with your aunt Lucy to do some shopping for today and you graduation/birthday party tomorrow." He stated while grinning behind his newspaper. Nope, he hadn't forgotten her birthday, and that wasn't the reason why he had yet to say anything about this just yet. He liked teasing her when she was in moods like these, because that meant he would eventually get her mood to take a 360.

Laura lifted her head up off the table so that way only her chin rested there as she narrowed her eyes at her dad hidden behind that newspaper. "Father, have you forgotten something?" she asked in a monotone sound of voice that seemed a bit uncharacteristic of her at the moment.

"No, why do you ask?" Clark lowered his newspaper, an innocent look upon his face. This in turn caused his daughter to give him a look almost reminiscent to what his or Linda's looked like when they were getting ready to use their heat vision. _It's a good thing she isn't of Kryptonian birth or this paper would be gone in a second, _Clark laughed nervously to himself within the confines of his own mind while watching his daughter continue to look at him with that identical look on her face that would have suggested the use of heat vision if she had it.

Laura's left eyebrow twitched a bit at her father's response and somewhat nervous look on his face, and she knew he was thinking about something concerning the look she was giving him. "You're lucky I don't have heat vision like Superman or that newspaper would no longer be hiding you from me." She stated in mumble before looking down at the orange juice she had yet to touch. She knew her dad hadn't forgotten her birthday, had he?

"Hey now, there's no need to get violent against a newspaper Laura. Honestly, I thought your mother and I raised you better." Clark stated in a feigned mock tone of hurt while folding up his paper and setting it down on the table.

The confused and completely astounded look upon Laura's face caused her father to fight back a laugh as he watched the new look on her face. After another moment of silence between them, Laura then just shook her head. "That is the strangest thing I have ever heard you say yet." Laura stated while finally taking her glass into her hand and took a drink from it.

He couldn't help it anymore as he finally allowed his laughter to come out. Clark laughed and had to remove his glasses from before his eyes and had his other hand coming up to wipe the small trace amounts of tears forming from the hard laughter. "I'm sorry sweetie, but that look on your face…" he trailed off through his own laughter while Laura tried to keep herself from laughing as well with the glass to her lips and the juice trailing down her throat.

Before Laura knew it she was choking on her drink and setting the glass down as she both coughed and laughed at the same time. "Dad, look what you did!" Laura stated while finally clearing her throat and saving herself from choking any further on her orange juice. "I nearly killed myself!"

"That would be impossible." Clark stated, now having found himself under control. "You know I would never let anything happen to you." He said while giving her one his infamous fatherly smiles that showed just how much he cared for her and that he meant what he said even though the two of them were goofing around now. Clark got up from his seat at the table and took his paper with him as he was headed off towards the living room. But before he did so, he stopped at his daughter's side of the table and bent down to kiss her on the crown of her head. "Happy birthday Laura, now go get dressed. You and I have to meet up with your mom and aunt Lucy for lunch at the Metropolis Plaza." He explained while then tapping the top of her head with the rolled up paper.

Laura groaned in a dramatic way that was over the top while slouching down in her chair before moaning out an, "Okay." And then wandered off towards her bedroom. Inside, Laura shut and locked the door before changing out her pajamas and getting dressed in a pair of faded jeans and a powder blue long sleeved shirt with the laser print of Superman's S-shield that her cousin Connor got her for her sixteenth birthday when she went to visit him in San Francisco for the weekend. Everyone knew that Laura adored Superman since she was ten, and has since either in good humor teased her about it or somewhat encouraged it like her mother and second cousin did. And in Connor's case, sort of made fun of it while being genuine in the fact that he gotten her a birthday present he knew she'd like. After running a brush through her shoulder length black hair and throwing it up into a ponytail, Laura fixed her eyebrow length bangs so that way they swept off to the right a bit and then quickly drew black eyeliner over the top of her eye lid followed by some pink shadow that was just modest enough, which was the way Laura liked her style.

After locating her red converse all-stars and pulling them on, Laura flew out of her bedroom and rushed into the living room. Vaulting over the back of the couch she landed next to her dad who was watching the news at the moment. "Ready there speedster?" he asked while turning the TV off and looking over at his daughter.

"Yep. Let's go!" she declared while standing up and leading the way to the front door of the apartment.

* * *

_Author's Note:_

_Quick run down of the superhero and non-superhero relatives of Laura Kent so that no one is completely confused out of their minds at this point._

_Godfather, Bruce Wayne – Batman_

_Aunt, Diana – Wonder Woman_

_Uncle, Wally West – The Flash_

_Uncle, Kyle Rayner – The Green Lantern_

_Aunt, Shayera Hol – Hawkgirl_

_Uncle, John Jones (J'onn J'onzz) – The Martian Manhunter_

_Second cousin, Linda Lee Danvers (Kara Zor-El) – Supergirl_

"_Cousin", Connor Kent (Kon-El) – Superboy_

_Grandfather, Jonathan Kent_

_Grandmother, Martha Kent_

_Aunt, Lucy Lane_

_Grandfather, General Sam Lane_


	4. Time Grows Near

Chapter Two – Time Grows Near

"Ah come on dad, I just want to watch this for a few more seconds." Laura pleaded as her father had now take a hold of her arm with a hand and was attempting to drag her off from the attention grabbing large screen plasma screen that was being displayed within the front window of a store upon the sidewalk they were walking down. It wasn't the TV itself that had her attention but what was being shown upon it, a news report on the failed bank robbery that Superman foiled.

Clark shook his head. "Laura, you already know what they're going to say." He stated while looking back over his shoulder at her after having finally succeeded in dragging her away and resumed walking towards the Metropolis Plaza.

"I know." Laura sighed while falling into step beside her dad and then looked up at him. "But I like hearing the stories anyways." She stated while giving him a small smile. "But I like the ones that you and mom write for _The Daily Planet_. They always seem more personal in how they're presented." Laura explained while looking ahead of herself.

A grin tugged upon Clark's lips after hearing this little piece of praise his daughter had offered his and her mother's journalism. But it wasn't just because of that all-together. No, he was also smiling because of the admiration his daughter had for his secret identity as Superman, something she was still within the dark about. _Maybe this would be the right day to final tell her the biggest family secret of us Kents. But the burden, would she be able to handle knowing that her father and all the people that surround her are superheroes and members of the Justice League? _Clark exhaled quietly to himself, but that didn't mean it wasn't unnoticed by Laura. She may not have the super-hearing that her father had, but she knew when her dad was in a personal debate with himself and was loosing on either end. Clark noticed from the corner of his eye, the look of sympathy his daughter was half glancing at him with.

Looking down at Laura, Clark offered a smile to her. "Something wrong sweetheart?" he asked.

"I could ask you the same thing." Laura returned while tilting her head to the side a bit.

Clark reached out a hand and tussled her dark hair where the bangs started seeing as how the rest of it was tied back into a ponytail. "You've always been able to see right through me, and you don't even need x-ray vision." He stated while grinning as she batted his hand away from her hair before trying to then fix the mess he had created.

"Yeah well, you're just transparent dad." Laura commented after fixing her bangs so that way they were resting flat instead of all askew and fly away. "And after having lived with you and mom for nineteen years now, I've come to pick up on the sudden changes in your mood and what they mean." She added in as an after thought to just prove her point.

Shaking his head while a laugh escaped his mouth, Clark couldn't help but grin at this. "You know I think your godfather's personality is just rubbing off on you." He stated, but then after seeing the look on his daughter's face to this comment, he almost regretted saying it. "I meant as far as his way of picking up on things faster than most people can." He quickly tried to explain.

It wasn't that Laura was upset over hearing this; it just surprised her that in some way she seemed to have resembled her godfather. Quirking a brow at her dad, Laura only smirked a bit at his near flustered state. "You okay there dad?" she teased while patting him on the arm.

Clark only gave his daughter a mock glare before grabbing her with his arm and pulled her into sideways hug while they walked. "Yes I'm fine, thanks for asking." He replied in mockery of her teasing question. "So, you never really did tell me or your mother what you want for your birthday." Clark pointed out while changing the subject as they continued to walk down the streets of downtown Metropolis.

"I don't know what I want." Laura explained while leaning on her dad as they walked. "I mean, well, besides a car, but I can get around Metropolis by just taking the buses and stuff. So, I don't know." She mused while actually trying to think of something her parents could get her. Frustration was starting to set in as Laura couldn't think of anything and finally she gave a whining whimper while burying her face into her dad's side. "I don't know!"

He chuckled at his daughter's frustration over the whole thing about a present and what she wanted for her birthday. Giving her a squeeze, as she was still in his sideways hug, Clark looked down at her now up turned face with a reassuring smile. "Don't worry too much about it Laura. I'm sure your mother and aunt probably already found something for you, and of course there's also tomorrow when everyone else will bringing you gifts for birthday and graduation days." He pointed out. "_I_ just wanted to know what you wanted, so that way I wouldn't be in the dark." He smiled.

Laura smiled back and then looked forward again as they were coming up on the Metropolis Plaza finally and immediately spotted her aunt Lucy standing out front near the large water fountain that stood at the middle of the large cement court yard that led the way towards the plaza itself as it sat further back from the street. "Dad look! There's aunt Lucy!" Laura stated while pointing the tall brunette out before taking off at a run towards her aunt and called out her name.

As Clark watched his daughter run off towards her aunt, who after hearing her name called out turned and waved at her niece with a huge smile on her face, he continued to think of what it was he could get for her birthday. There had to be something she didn't have or really wanted and didn't know it herself, _Well Laura was never really one who wanted material possessions like most kids. But there has to be something she's not thinking about outright that she really wants…_Clark found his thoughts coming to a stand still as he stopped in mid step about halfway towards where his sister-in-law and daughter stood talking with one another before Laura turned towards him and waved for him to hurry up. That was when it struck him like a bolt of lightning; the front of her shirt had given him the genius idea of what to finally give her. _My S-shield, why didn't I think of it before? It's perfect._

"Dad, come on!" Laura called out to him while crossing her arms over her chest and started tapping her right foot, a habit she had clearly picked up from her mother over the years.

"Yeah, come on now Smallville, you walk any slower and the rest of the world will pass you by." Lucy added in while grinning as she spoke.

Clark smiled back at them both as he started walking towards them. _I only hope it's what she wants._


End file.
